Saturday, September 27, 2014

The Writing Of Franz Kafka And Kafkaesque Art

By Karina Frost


Kafka was a major figure in his day. His writings include several well known publications. Two of these being The Trial and The Metamorphosis. While these are two of his most well known works, he left behind a large body of work at the time of his death. In fact, much of his other works have since been published posthumously. A number of artists have now incorporated images from his writings into work known as kafkaesque art.

Most of the writer's work expresses the absurdity of society today. In particular, the growth of capitalism and a lack of personal attention when it comes to bureaucracy and red tape. Often, the individuals in his books stand alone in opposition to others' ideologies and lifestyles. Kafkaesque is a label now given to art by artists to describe absurd and surreal characteristics like those found in his many writings.

Kafka seems to portray a world in which God is dead, if present at all, with the individual on trial for crimes in a past life. The trial, to survive the world which has become void of purpose or meaning. Regardless of beliefs, individuals can still find references to religious and spiritual aspects in his work.

The majority of his work draws a strong comparison between current events and concerns and the individual's relation to society. Franz believed, or at least seem to portray a belief that the world was not only void of meaning but also malevolent toward the individual. The writer also provided the ideology that society is less than hospitable and is overall menacing.

Born to a middle class German Jewish family in Prague, at that time the capital of Bohemia, he was both Austrian and Hungarian. While his first language was German, he was also fluent in Czech. Still, his dialect and vocabulary was primarily German which came across both in oral and written interactions.

Franz delved into a number of different interests. At first, he was admitted to Charles University where he studied chemistry. Later, he switched to law. In doing so, he felt there would be far more career opportunities. It was at Charles University where he also joined a literary group and developed a love for writing. With a combination of English, chemistry, law and science, it almost seemed as if the sky was the limit when it came to opportunities.

With some artists, anxiety and depression are inspiring conditions. While this is the case, it is both good and bad for the success of artistic works. The writings of Kafka often provide dark horrific images and surreal scenes. Images which can often evoke either a positive or negative reaction.

Like many artists, he suffered from anxiety and depression. While having a somewhat negative belief in medicine, he did try a number of different natural treatments. One in particular, which is thought to have possibly been the reason for the tuberculosis was the large amount of unpasteurized milk he drank during his lifetime. While this may have been the case, it is also believed a vegetarian diet most likely being the reason he lived as long as he did, even after the tuberculosis diagnosis.




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